Phoenix Rising
by Ramour
Summary: Phoenix was normal. Phoenix was nice. Phoenix was human. Things Change. The question is, what happens when they do?


**Hey. This is my first story in a looong time, so any and all criticisms are welcome. I worked hard on this and hope you all enjoy it. Please tell me what you think about it.**

**So, here it is:**

**Phoenix Rising**

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First, I want you to know that I never wanted any of this. It just kind of…happened. I also need you to know that all of this is true. I know it's hard to believe…I mean I lived through this and I still have trouble believing it sometimes, but it _did_ happen.

I really don't know why I'm writing this. I guess I just want my side of the story told. Before I get into more of the confusing details, let me introduce myself. My name is Phoenix, and I used to be human. I used to be a normal 16 year old boy. Used to. Things change, people change. Sometimes, they change so much that they're not even people anymore. Have you ever almost gone insane trying to stay human? I have.

My journey into darkness didn't start out as you would imagine. It wasn't a dark, stormy night; it was just a normal day at the movies with some friends. At least, it was supposed to be a normal day…

"Happy anniversary, guys. I can't believe it's already been a year, time goes by fast." I said to Robyn and Khaleb. "Yeah. Too bad that you're such a loser that you've been alone this whole time." Robyn replied. "You're hilarious, you know that?" I said sarcastically. "Of course I do, I'm me!" She flipped her head back proudly. Robyn was one of my closest friends. Short brown hair, dark brown eyes and tanned skin. Not to mention athletic. She was the type of girl that was pretty, but could also beat you up; an enviable combination.

"Hey! That's my baby and she's perfect!" I laughed at Khaleb as soon as those words left his mouth. "What a KISS ASS!" Khaleb was a really cool guy. He was average height, had brown hair and eyes, and was skinny. With his skinniness and tendency to wear tight jeans and tight black shirts, a lot of people would call him emo. If you took the time to get to know him, however, you would know that he was only a _little_ emo, but mostly just a good guy. "You're just jealous that I have someone's ass to kiss, man." Khaleb shot back. "BURN ON YOUR LIFE!" Katherine laughed at me. "Burn on your FACE! What did I ever do to you, that you're torturing me with that thing?" I yelled back. I was joking. With her blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin, Kat was far from ugly. "Ha…ha" she rolled her eyes at me. "Wow not being around Michael sure makes you cranky, Kat." "What are you talking about?" Her face was turning red. I loved teasing Kat about her relationship with Michael. He was her first boyfriend and she insisted that it hadn't changed her. Fanning the flames and joking that it had was just fun.

The two of us began play arguing for a while, with childish insults flying from both sides. "You're such a –"Kat was cut off by Khaleb's coughing. A smoke had formed in the arcade sometime during my "conversation" with Kat (or was it coming out of Khaleb's mouth?). Soon it had filled the small game room, almost too thick to see through. I managed to choke out a "What the hell?!" before being overwhelmed by the smoke and passing out.

I woke up on the floor a couple of minutes later. Were we still at the movies? I looked over to my side to see my friends. Katherine, Khaleb and Robyn were all waking up, too. Rubbing the spot where my head hit the floor, I stood up and went to help the others up, too. "What the hell was that?" Robyn asked, confused. "No idea, but we better get out of here before we miss the movie." Khaleb said. The four of us started walking towards the lobby, when a worker stood in the doorway and stopped us.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you four to leave." He looked down at us as if we smelled like we were rolling around in garbage. "Why? What did we do?" Katherine asked. "We don't allow smoking in this theater; especially underage smoking." "But we weren't - " "Don't even! I saw the smoke coming out of here, so don't even try to deny it." I looked around at my friends and saw that Robyn was getting pretty angry. She had this weird look in her eyes – for a second, I thought her eyes had turned… _orange?_ "We're not going anywhere." She stated defiantly. Her voice sounded oddly calm, entrancing almost. "You will ALL" (she looked around at all the workers) "let us watch the movie in peace." The man's face went blank for a second, and then turned friendly. "Of course. You'd better hurry before you miss your movie. Please enjoy." None of the other workers bothered us for the rest of our time there.

"Well, that was weird, but I'm not complaining!" I told Robyn as we took our seats in the theater. "Yeah. I don't know what came over me…but I like it! Ha ha." "Shh!" We were hushed by an older woman sitting a couple of rows behind us. "I'm sorry, are we disturbing you watching the previews? We'll be quiet when the movie starts." I snapped back at her. She coward back in her seat, making me feel bad for losing my temper with her. "I'm sorry for being rude, we'll try to control our noise." _Yeah, right!_ I heard her say as I turned to sit down. I turned around again and looked at her. "Excuse me?" _Oh, my! Did I say that out loud?_ I heard her say it, but her lips didn't move. I sat back down, confused as to what had just happened.

I couldn't enjoy the movie. I kept hearing people talking when they weren't. It was all really confusing. What was going on? When the movie finished, I quickly said good-bye to my friends and headed home. My head was killing me as I walked home. I had all these voices from nowhere screaming in there. I felt like my head would explode. I walked the last couple of blocks home almost blind from the pain the voices were causing. Why was this happening to me? Where were these voices coming from? I did have a theory as to what they were, but I figured that if these voices didn't mean I was crazy, thinking that I was hearing thoughts was even crazier. Still I couldn't help but to think that that's what it was...

"How was the movie?" Mom asked once I arrived home. "What? Oh, it was alright," I auto-responded. "What happened in it?" I had a headache and was sort of slurring my words. "Yuh know, same ol' same ol'." _Oh dear, has this child been drinking?_ After hearing her think this, I regained my composure and looked her in the eyes. "You know, Mom, it's been a long day and the movie was a little boring, so I'm tired. I know I seem weird, but it's just a headache. I'm gunna head up to bed, ok?" "Ok, Phoenix. Good night." "Night, I love you." I said to her as I left the room. "I love you, too." I stopped on the stairs and tried to hear her, what I could only assume were her thoughts at this point, again. _I don't know what I was thinking. We've raised a good son._ After hearing this, I smiled as I walked up the stairs.

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to control my newly discovered ability. It wasn't easy. Since I couldn't control it yet, I barely slept on Friday night. I kept hearing the thoughts of my parents wander while one discussed something of little or no interest to the other. Saturday was slightly better. Although I was tired, I had figured out how to tune out my parents' thoughts pretty adequately. I had fun playing guessing games with them, watching them get frustrated every time I won…which was _every time._ I was getting worried, though. I could tune out the thoughts of two people, but what would happen when we went out in public? Would I be able to handle it? I was about to find out the next day.

Sunday came. I was doing pretty well, with m parents at least. I was still scarred of going out into public, for fear that my head would explode, but some things can't be avoided for forever. Like many Catholic families, Sundays were our Church days. While we didn't go every week, of course the time I least wanted to go is the day that we do. I put on some jeans and a black and red polo and went outside. I had my mp3 player with me to distract me until we got there. The car ride went smoothly since I had it on, but once we entered the church I had to take it off. Boy was I in for a headache.

I was bombarded with thoughts from all sides. I could hear people worrying about their jobs, school, relationships, everything. It was pretty overwhelming. Luckily, I never paid much attention in Church anyways, so I was able to use the time to focus on clearing my mind and controlling this power in a group this large. By the end of it, I was doing pretty well but had to concentrate pretty hard still. If I lost focus a stray thought would slip in and be followed by a flood of others. It was pretty aggravating but by lunch I had it down.

My parents and I went to a fast-food place to eat. I ordered a burger with no pickles. I allowed myself to hear the worker's thoughts, and then decided I wasn't hungry. I sat at a table and waited for my parents to come with their food. Even though I hadn't wanted to leave the house, I was glad that my parents had made me. I realized that I had needed to get this whole mind-reading thing under control before going to school, or I would have gone crazy with all the teen angst I wouldn't be able to block out.

Now that I had it down, I was looking forward to school the next day. Hearing people's secrets, what they really thought about things and maybe even use it to flirt a little. I also had the feeling that I was about to do _very_ well in class participation that week.

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**Well, I hope you liked it, and Chapter 2 coming soon. please review to tell me what you thought of it.**

**-Ramour**


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